Ali
09-20-2005, 05:42 AM
Oil prices had the biggest one-day gain on record overnight as a new storm beared down on America's southeast coast, threatening more supply disruptions less than a month after Hurricane Katrina. Times (http://business.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,13129-1788856,00.html)
Tropical Storm Rita is forecast to turn into a hurricane later today as it passes over the warm waters off Florida. It is then expected to push into the Gulf of Mexico, where the United States produces a quarter of its oil.
By Sunday, the storm could make landfall in Texas, home to about a quarter of the nation’s refining production.
New York’s benchmark crude oil contract yesterday surged by 7 per cent, jumping $4.39 to $67.39 on fear that Rita could follow a similar path to Katrina, which devastated production and refining facilities in the Gulf.
Four of the region's coastal refineries and about half its oil production remain out of service following Katrina, meaning the industry can ill-afford more stoppages.
Meteorologists say there is about a 40 per cent probability Rita will disrupt production in the Gulf. The storm is still too far away to forecast with greater certainty. Kind of appropriate, in a way... Mother Nature laying waste to oil-production facilities in the world's biggest polluter.
I hope everybody can get out of the high-risk areas before the storm hits.
Tropical Storm Rita is forecast to turn into a hurricane later today as it passes over the warm waters off Florida. It is then expected to push into the Gulf of Mexico, where the United States produces a quarter of its oil.
By Sunday, the storm could make landfall in Texas, home to about a quarter of the nation’s refining production.
New York’s benchmark crude oil contract yesterday surged by 7 per cent, jumping $4.39 to $67.39 on fear that Rita could follow a similar path to Katrina, which devastated production and refining facilities in the Gulf.
Four of the region's coastal refineries and about half its oil production remain out of service following Katrina, meaning the industry can ill-afford more stoppages.
Meteorologists say there is about a 40 per cent probability Rita will disrupt production in the Gulf. The storm is still too far away to forecast with greater certainty. Kind of appropriate, in a way... Mother Nature laying waste to oil-production facilities in the world's biggest polluter.
I hope everybody can get out of the high-risk areas before the storm hits.